Sony planning two-lens Google Glass AR rival?

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A freshly-uncovered patent suggests that Sony may be planning on launching their very own wearable computer to rival Google Glass glasses.

A continuation patent for a “head-mounted display (HMD) apparatus”, filed in November 2012, it looks as though Sony are going for a more fashion-conscious design than Google. For starters, the tech wizardry in Sony’s specs looks set to be housed on a standard glasses frame, making you look slightly less like an extra from Universal Soldier when wearing it compared to Google’s offering.

Sony’s HMD will also offer dual lenses, apparently letting users grab information on both lenses instead of the single lens seen in Google Glass. That’s probably not such a good idea – expect to see many people walking into lampposts if these ever make it to market. Each lens would be adjustable however, allowing the wearer to tweak them to optimise their spatial awareness.

The headset also has earpieces, letting a user presumably listen to music and receive calls from a synced mobile phone.

There’s no mention however of another of Sony’s intriguing patents being implemented, which would see headset users share information just by staring into each others’ eyes.

As merely a patent, there’s no official word on a product being tied to the Sony plans here yet, but it does prove that Sony certainly are looking into the emerging market of wearable computing with some interest.